Bestival coach crash: Merseypride Travel boss fined

The coach crashed through a fence and into a tree

A travel firm boss has been fined over a coach crash which killed three people returning from a music festival on the Isle of Wight.

Driver Colin Daulby, 63, and passengers Kerry Ogden, 23, and Michael Molloy, 18, died in the accident on the A3 in Surrey in September 2012.

Tracey Hannell, of Merseypride Travel, admitted two charges at Guildford magistrates and was fined £4,300.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded at an inquest in July.

'Catastrophic failure'

Hannell pleaded guilty, through her lawyer, to charges of allowing the use of a vehicle with a tyre with ply or cord exposed and permitting the number of passengers to exceed the number of seats on the vehicle.

She was fined £4,000 for the first charge, £300 for the second and also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £15 surcharge.

In addition to the deaths, a total of 50 passengers, aged between 22 and 28, were injured when the coach travelling from Bestival on the Isle of Wight crashed near Hindhead.

Surrey coroner Richard Travers said the "catastrophic failure" of a tyre, which was nearly 20 years old, had caused the accident.

Following the inquest Mr Travers said he would be writing to the transport minister to urge him to look at the dangers of old vehicle tyres.

There are currently no legal restrictions on the age of tyres used by private, commercial or public vehicles.

The charge which Ms Hannell admitted referred to a different tyre from the one that caused the Hindhead crash.

Merseypride Travel said it would not be commenting on Tuesday's sentencing.